Miami Heat Rumors: Facilitating hypothetical 3 team trade for Joel Embiid

The Miami Heat rumor mill has been ablaze with links between them and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid. Here’s how it could possibly happen though.

The Miami Heat have been in the news as of late, but not for the reasons that executives want. Prior to the All-Star break, 76ers center, Joel Embiid seemed to insinuate that he wanted out of Philadelphia.

A sentiment to which Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler seemed to oblige quickly. Since it’s currently February and no online trade machine can simulate what it would be like to execute a trade this summer, I did it myself.

https://twitter.com/bleacherreport/status/1227041725060792324?s=21

It took some finagling as I channeled my inner Andy Elisburg. The move is legal considering ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks’ salary cap and luxury tax threshold predictions, but would the 76ers pull the trigger?

First, let’s discuss the goals of this trade. The lack of floor spacing that the Philadelphia 76ers suffers from has been well documented. A change needs to happen this summer, which is widely believed to be at the coaching level.

Commons sense says Philadelphia needs to hire the best head coach they possibly can, make a few roster tweaks even if that includes exploring trade scenarios involving Al Horford, and run it back next season. But that’s boring. For our hypothetical trade offer, we’re going to act like Embiid is absolutely fed up with the organization and wants out NOW.

At this point, Sixers GM Elton Brand is on the clock. He’s listening to any and all offers for Joel Embiid with three things on the mind: Maximize Ben Simmons‘ skill set, get back quality rotational pieces, and receive young salary controlled players that can contribute to a championship team now.

The Goals for the Miami Heat here are a bit different, of course. Team President Pat Riley and General Manager Andy Elisburg have done a fantastic job of providing salary cap flexibility for the Summer of 2021, where top tier unrestricted free agents will be available.

You have Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Oladipo for starters, while All-NBA performers like Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and LeBron James will need to make decisions on the final year of their contract options. The Miami Heat brass knows they can’t sit around and wait for Antetokounmpo to drop into their laps so it would behoove them to craft offers of their own in an attempt to land another star free agent to pair with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.